


Fair Exchange

by LadyYueh



Category: Labyrinth (1986), NCIS
Genre: Crossover, Fairy Tales, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-14
Updated: 2012-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-29 12:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/319959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyYueh/pseuds/LadyYueh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing is for free. Every bargain demands a price.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fair Exchange

**Author's Note:**

> For nenagh_breen

Once upon a time there was a little boy who dreamed lovely dreams and whose imagination was a credit to every child of whimsy. The little boy truly believed in the things of fantasy, the stuff that so many others--adults chief among them--would scoff at and call ‘impossible’ and ‘ridiculous’ and ‘nonsense’.

And while the little boy was clever and quick, he was a child and thus he was not always kind nor considerate. Like all children, the little boy wanted to play and frolic without a care.

One day, the little boy gained a baby sister and he grew to love her very much, but at times he became resentful of her existence; recalling days gone by where he was free and unfettered, and utterly without the affection of a sibling.

It happened on one utterly unremarkable day that the little boy, for some silly, trivial reason that he no longer remembers, said a very thoughtless thing.

He called the goblins and bid them snatch his sister away.

And though his words were thoughtless they were imbued with absolute belief and that gave them power. That made them real.

And so the goblins came and they took his sister and the little boy cried and was full of grief and guilt and sorrow.

The Goblin King--a supernatural being of awesome power, awe full and awful by turns--heard his cries and came to the little boy who begged and pleaded for the return of his sister.

“Why should I? You are no different than so many others who have asked for the same. Nothing is for free, Timothy. What will I gain in return?” asked the Goblin King with a pointed smirk.

Timothy thought very, very hard. Then, in his grief, he did something very foolish. He offered the Goblin King anything for the return of his sister.

Oaths are binding and oaths are essentially spoken words. Now, the Goblin King could ask anything of Timothy; take everything from him.

Soon enough, Timothy realized his mistake and he knew he could not recant his words, but he could add to them. “Anything of mine, that is simply my own and cannot cause harm to anyone but myself,” he said.

The Goblin King could be cruel and he could also be kind. And sometimes he was both.

“I want your belief,” said the Goblin King.

Timothy could do nothing but agree.

Belief is a powerful thing and it shone brightly in Timothy. It was like a burning star. The Goblin King wanted that power for himself. The Goblin King took it from Timothy and with it went his certainty in the existence of the fantastical and his faith in himself.

Timothy clutched his sister close and cried. He was sad and happy and relieved and for a reason he could not name, he even felt a little empty, but most of all he felt sorry without knowing why.

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” he whispered and felt a little better.

Timothy was still clever, still full of imagination and ideas and wonder, but without belief he stumbled through life never feeling completely satisfied.

Until one day…

But you already know that story.


End file.
